U Lenin there could be no children with Nadezhda Krupskaya, so Nadezhda Konstantinovna was not particularly indignant when Inessa Armand gave birth to Ilyich’s son. This happened in 1920, shortly before Inessa died from cholera. In 1942, the leader's heir was captured by the Germans and imprisoned in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. On April 15, 1945, the prison camp was liberated by the British, and Dmitry Armand, together with future wife(a German communist) emigrated first to England, then to the USA. Having changed his surname (to Italian) and first name, he got married. From this marriage the couple had a son, George. After George married a certain Irmalin, in 1974 they had a son, who was named Leonardo in honor of the great da Vinci. The boy became a brilliant film actor. In 1996, when Leonardo turned 22 years old, his father told him a secret, according to which he was the great-grandson of the great L. Before filming Titanic in 1997, Leonardo told his parents: “ I am not familiar with Lenin's teachings, but I am pleased with the fact that I am the heir to such famous person. I dedicate my filming in the film “Titanic” to my great-grandfather and his cruiser “Aurora”»
For a long time now, a version of the existence of the SON OF LENIN has been circulating in the media and on the Internet. In general, this is more reminiscent of the story of “the children of Lieutenant Schmidt,” but I decided to ask anyway. And then, as expected, I discovered more than one contender for this title. Look at the stories there are: And now about the women in Lenin’s life.
Lenin's secret daughter
Much has been written about the personal lives and descendants of the October leaders. But readers first learned about “Lenin’s secret daughter” from the book “ Private life leaders."
One of the widespread legends about V.I. Ulyanov was this: back in Kazan he was in love with beautiful girl Elena Lenin. She reciprocated his feelings, but refused to go into exile with him in Siberia. For an ordinary girl from a bourgeois environment, this was too shameful.
Vladimir Ilyich allegedly took her last name as a party pseudonym (there are other versions, but we will not touch on them).
Maria Essen
In Geneva in 1904, Maria Essen, a very pleasant woman of 32 years old, a convinced Social Democrat, lived for some time in Lenin’s family. She was very energetic, knew how to attract attention, and easily became the center of any conversation or discussion.
Her presence excited Lenin. He tried to be alone with her longer; they went on long mountain excursions. Krupskaya was silent for a long time, but, in the end, expressed dissatisfaction with her husband: “How long can you tolerate this?! People have already begun to notice!” Krupskaya was especially unbalanced by the fact that everyone in the house had been asleep for a long time, and Maria and Vladimir were still in twilight.
When Lenin's comrades directly asked him for an explanation, he admitted nothing. Then Krupskaya demanded that Essen (“mistress-tenant”) be sent to Russia to prepare for the Third Party Congress. The security guards knew very well the role and importance of Maria in the Swiss organization and she was immediately arrested.
On December 24, 1904, Lenin wrote a letter to her in prison: “Don’t lose heart, be cheerful; remember that we are not that old - everything is still ahead.” The letter made Maria happy and excited....
Lenin's quarrels with Krupskaya became more and more frequent. My husband often visited restaurants and cafes. She believed that he was spending party money there, having no idea that certain sums were constantly brought to him from Russia from wealthy relatives.
Anna Bukatova
Lenin's nervous breakdowns. Calm came to Zurich from the Russian prostitute Anna Bukatova. The relationship between them lasted relatively short. Lenin tried to instill revolutionary ideas in Anna, to use her in transporting illegal literature to Russia. But her response letter to Lenin has been preserved: “You have honored me with your friendship, and I am at your disposal, I can satisfy you physically, but I am not capable of anything else...”
Son of Lenin
Lenin in a wig before leaving for Finland, July 1917.
Alexander Vladimirovich Steffen
Readers will probably be interested in learning about what almost all schoolchildren in Germany know about. There, in history textbooks for eighth grades, in the chapter dedicated to Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), they talk about Alexander Steffen, only son leader of the revolution and sixth child of Inessa Armand. But the main sensation is not even this.
In 1998, journalist Arnold Bespo tracked down 85-year-old Alexander Vladimirovich Steffen in Berlin, where he lived near the Brandenburg Gate. His wife died long ago, his children (that is, Ilyich’s true “grandchildren”) live separately. A modest pension of 1,200 Deutsche Rock was enough to live on, but he was looking for a publisher to publish a book of his memoirs.
The man’s advanced age did not favor a long conversation, but Herr Steffen nevertheless agreed to give the journalist a short interview. Here's what he said about himself:
“I was born in 1913, 3 years after my mother met Vladimir Ilyich. And it happened in Paris in 1909, immediately after the death of her second husband, Vladimir Armand, from tuberculosis. As I believe, my parents did not really want to advertise the fact of my birth. Therefore, 7 months after birth, I was placed in the family of an Austrian communist. There I grew up until 1928, when unknown people They took me, put me on a ship in Le Havre, and I ended up in America. I think that these were Stalin’s people who most likely wanted to use me for propaganda purposes in the future. But apparently it didn’t work out. In 1943, already an American citizen, I volunteered for the Army and served at Portland Naval Station until 1947.
I know about my father from my mother. In the spring of 1920, shortly before her death, she visited Salzburg. She told about him, brought a letter from her personal archive, written to Vladimir Ilyich in Paris in 1913, and asked to keep it as a souvenir.
Life in the USA was not going well. My wife died in 1959, and I went to Europe, to Germany. Democratic Republic(GDR). I guessed why the East Germans immediately agreed to my request and provided me with citizenship along with a good apartment. Later my guess was confirmed. I was invited to a reception with Comrade Walter Ulbricht, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany - he knew everything. And in 1967, during the Berlin meeting of world leaders communist movement Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev met with me at the Soviet embassy. He presented me with the Order of Friendship of Peoples and kissed me deeply goodbye. He promised to invite him to the XXIII Congress of the CPSU as an honorary guest. Did not work out. And today Lenin is not liked in Russia. So I have nothing to do with you.”
“...Looking at well-known places, I clearly realized, as never before, what great place You were still here in Paris, so important in my life that almost all my activities here in Paris were connected by a thousand threads with the thought of you. I wasn’t in love with you at all then, but even then I loved you very much. Even now I would do without kisses, just to see you, sometimes talking to you would be a joy - and it could not hurt anyone. Why was it necessary to deprive me of this?..”
At first glance, the information is plausible, especially since Walter Ulbricht himself received Alexander Steffen, and Leonid Brezhnev awarded him. Yes, and they won’t write it in history books without checking it. Let's look at this most reliable version of the birth of a bastard ( illegitimate son) from the leader.
1. Let us dwell on the date of birth of 1913. From Inessa’s biography we know that in the spring of 1912, Inessa, on behalf of Lenin, went to Russia, on September 14th she was arrested, she was released in the spring of 1913 on bail of 5,400 rubles, which was paid by her first husband Alexander. On August 6, 1913, the period of public police supervision ended, and she could leave Russia. In September she appeared in Krakow and left for Paris until October 7, 1913.
The fruit of the love of Lenin and Inessa, born in 1913 (month of birth not specified), could have arisen from their meetings between April 1912 and April 1913. Inessa left for Russia in the spring of 1912, which means that such an event could only have happened in April-May 1912 . in Paris. Based on these calculations, the child could only be born in a St. Petersburg prison. Births in prison had to be recorded in the church register. If such a recording existed and was discovered, it would be the main evidence of this version. Inessa was supposed to be released from prison with a baby in the spring of 1913, and for sure, judging by the actions of Alexander Armand, he would have offered Inessa to adopt the boy, as he did with the son of his brother Vladimir, Andrei.
2. As follows from the version, “7 months after birth” the son was placed in the family of an Austrian communist. Following this version, we must assume that Inessa made her way through Finland and Stockholm to Krakow with the child and should have appeared in the Ulyanov family with the baby, and then hastily within a month, since she had already left Krakow in October, hand him over to a family of Austrians (they were in Galicia at that time). Krupskaya spoke with great warmth about Inessa, who was constantly in their house at this time, but did not hint anything about the baby, even in passing. Can we assume that they conspired and decided to get rid of the illegitimate child who was discrediting the leader of the revolution? But this is unlikely.
Firstly, Lenin was just the leader of the Bolshevik Party, and the revolution was still very far away.
Secondly, if Inessa had appeared with Lenin’s child, the actions of the Ulyanov family would have been completely opposite - they were so expecting children, especially Maria Alexandrovna, well, how could they refuse such happiness.
Thirdly, Inessa was a great mother. Politics distracted her, took her away from her children, but whenever possible she spent time with them. After escaping from exile in the Arkhangelsk province, she met with children in Moscow at risk to herself. When she lived in Paris near the Ulyanovs' apartment, she came to Krupskaya and Lenin with the children, for whom they became uncle and aunt. She even came to the courses in Longjumeau with her son Andrei. She was unable to drop her child off with someone else's family to be raised. Such an act was not in her character. She was a tender, attentive mother who always took care of her children. Returning to Paris in 1913, where her children lived with their father Alexander Evgenievich, in the summer of 1914 she went on vacation with them to the Adriatic Sea, to Lovrana, on the Istrian Peninsula.
From diary entries Inessa on September 1, 1920: “In my relationship with children, I am not at all like a Roman matron who easily sacrifices her children in the interests of the republic. I am incredibly afraid for my children.”
3. We should also dwell on a phrase from the version: “In the spring of 1920, shortly before her death, she visited Salzburg.” In 1918, Inessa moved to Moscow with Lenin’s government and began heading the women’s department of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party. Her apartment was located in the Kremlin, next to Anna Ilyinichna’s apartment, and Lenin went on foot to visit the women. In 1920, it was decided to convene the 1st International Women's Communist Conference simultaneously with the second congress Communist International(Comintern) from July 19 to August 7, 1920 in Moscow. Inessa Armand was appointed organizer and leader of this conference and did not leave Moscow. There was no way she could be in Salzburg, and there was no time for travel; the war with Poland had begun. On March 1, the Poles occupied Slonim, and then Pinsk, on April 19, Lida, Novogrudok and Baranovich and Vilno, and on April 28 - Grodno. Moscow was cut off from Europe, and it was simply physically impossible to get there.
4. The version about Lenin’s son was compiled and concocted hastily, and its authors did not even bother to look in the reference book and clarify the facts and dates. Another serious mistake in the version: “And in 1967, during the Berlin meeting of the leaders of the world communist movement at the Soviet embassy, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev met with me. He presented me with the Order of Friendship of Peoples and kissed me deeply goodbye. Leonid Ilyich was in the GDR at the beginning of October 1964, being a member of the presidium and secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, he, as the head of the Soviet delegation, took part in the celebration of the fifteenth anniversary of the GDR. One evening, Soviet Ambassador Pyotr Andreevich Abrasimov hosted a dinner in honor of the distinguished guest, to which he invited singer Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya and cellist Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich. In September 1967, Brezhnev was on an official visit to Hungary, and his official visit to the GDR, as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, took place in October 1971 and he was received at top level, and receptions at the embassy were out of the question.
All these fabrications about Lenin’s son are stitched together with white threads and have nothing to do with actual events. And it doesn’t matter whether Alexander Steffen was born in 1912 or 1914, in any case, Inessa had to bear him, and with her biography so carefully recorded by chronographs by month, there is no time for the birth of a sixth child. Naturally, pregnancy cannot be hidden, and one of the comrades would definitely have mentioned this fact in their memoirs. Inessa did not have a sixth child, and Lenin did not have a son.
Andrey Armand
At the instigation of Kollontai, there are many rumors about the closeness of Inessa Armand and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. They said that Inessa had a child with Lenin.
In the Lithuanian town of Marijampole, local guides will definitely take you to the memorial cemetery and show you the monument to Captain Andrei Armand, who died on October 7, 1944 in the battles for the liberation of the Baltic states from the Nazis.
According to local historians, guard captain of the Red Army Andrei Armand is the illegitimate son of... Vladimir Lenin and Inessa Armand. IN official documents during the war, it actually says that “the buried Andrei Aleksandrovich Armand (1903-1944) is the son of Inessa Armand and Vladimir Ulyanov.”
Today these papers are kept in the Marijampole city administration. But how did this entry appear in the registration book in regional center, none of the locals can explain.
Professor Russian Academy theatrical arts Faina Khachaturyan is sure that in childhood she was friends with Lenin’s grandson. “One of the most vivid memories of my childhood is going to visit Inessa Armand’s relatives,” says Faina Nikolaevna. “My mother was friends with Khiena Armand, his wife youngest son Inessa - Andrey. These were post-war years. Their family lived in a house on Manezhnaya Square.
Later I found out that they were given the apartment by order of Lenin. It was a huge communal apartment. They lived very modestly. The apartment was furnished with old government furniture. But it had a special atmosphere, people gathered here prominent representatives Moscow intelligentsia.
Wonderful holidays were organized for us children in this hospitable house. Hiena raised two sons. The youngest was called Volodya. We became friends with him. He amazed me with his intelligence and erudition. It always seemed to me that he reminded me a lot of someone. Later elder sister opened my eyes, saying: “Look into the history textbook, and you will understand everything.” And indeed. As a child, Volodya Armand was almost a copy of a photograph depicting Volodya Ulyanov in a gymnasium uniform. The same bulging forehead, the same piercing gaze. When I grew up, my mother told me that his father, Andrei Armand, was Lenin’s son.” Such is the legend.
OPINION OF HISTORIAN Akim ARUTYUNOV, a famous scientist-historian, author of books about Lenin.
To answer the question of who Andrei Armand is, we must remember the fate of his mother, Inessa (Eliza) Fedorovna Armand. She was born on May 9, 1874 in Paris. Her father, Theodor Stefan, was a famous opera singer. Mother, Natalie Wild, is a housewife. After the death of her husband, she was left with three small children without funds.
In search of a way out of a difficult financial situation, an aunt (teacher) French and music) together with Inessa emigrated to Russia. In Moscow, the girl received a good education.
The highly gifted Inessa, who was fluent in French, English and Russian and played the piano superbly, became a home teacher for children from wealthy Moscow families. In October 1893, she married the son of a merchant of the first guild, owner of factories in the Moscow region, Alexander Armand. In eight years life together Inessa gave birth to two boys (Alexandra in 1894 and Fyodor in 1896) and two girls (Inessa in 1898 and Vera in 1901).
Living in complete harmony and understanding with Alexander, Inessa unexpectedly left in 1902... to live with her husband’s younger brother, Vladimir. In 1903, she gave birth to his fifth child, a boy named Andryusha. But a long life with Vladimir did not work out. After Inessa's exile for political activity he followed her, although he was suffering from tuberculosis. In the north, my husband’s illness worsened sharply.
Vladimir Armand was forced to urgently move to Switzerland for treatment. Inessa, having escaped from exile, went to her husband. Alas, the doctors were unable to save him. At the beginning of January 1909, Vladimir died. After burying her husband, Inessa decided to move to her native Paris. During that period, her first husband Alexander took care of all five children in Russia.
Inessa first met Vladimir Ulyanov in Paris in the spring of 1909. These two people had never met before. In the year Lenin met Armand, Inessa’s youngest son Andrei was already 5 years old. So, in Marijampole they are mistaken: Vladimir Ilyich could not possibly be the father of Andrei Armand.
It was possible to establish that after the death of his mother on September 24, 1924, Andrei - not without the support of the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Lenin - received higher education. Until 1935 he worked as a mechanical engineer at Gorky Automobile Plant, then moved to Moscow. At the beginning of the war, he volunteered to go to the front with the Moscow militia. In 1944 he became a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and soon died a hero.
Now we know that guard captain of the Red Army Andrei Armand is buried in Lithuania
But here’s what Vladimir himself says in an interview:
But that same Volodya, who looks like a textbook photograph of little Ilyich, lives and lives in Moscow. He is now 72 years old. He runs his own small company. The first thing that comes to mind when meeting him: indeed, he looks a lot like Lenin! Especially when he gestures and smiles.
- A few years ago, a sensation went around all the newspapers: the grave of Lenin’s son, Andrei Armand, was found in Lithuania. Is this your father?
They also wrote that he was a colonel. But in fact he was a captain. Yes, he was seriously wounded in 1944 in battles with the Nazis near Vilkaviskis. He died in the hospital. This is where he was buried. The family knew where he was laid to rest. We went to his grave long before the press trumpeted about it. Before the war, dad worked as a mechanical engineer at the Gorky Automobile Plant. He was sent here without being allowed to complete his fourth year at the institute. He even went to Sergo Ordzhonikidze with a request to let him finish his studies at the university. But he answered him: “We know each other well, but this is not a reason not to carry out the party’s instructions.” My father had a reservation from the army. But he volunteered for the front.
- It is known that after the death of Inessa Armand in 1920, Krupskaya took care of her children.
When Inessa died, my father was seventeen years old. He was educated by a home teacher. He lived with us as a member of the family even after my dad’s death. Krupskaya treated children with attention. Vladimir Ilyich also communicated with them, and from time to time found out their worldview. There was no guardianship: just a normal relationship. Our last name meant nothing. Therefore, no benefits, no special conditions. True, Joseph Vissarionovich clearly responded to his mother’s requests when she wrote: “Fix the roof.” The roof often leaked: it was broken during the bombing. A day after the letter, the Kremlin commandant came running. Although the Armands still had one privilege: none of the family members came under repression. The adopted children of Dmitry Ulyanov received the same concession, younger brother leader.
- They wrote that one of the Armands kept Inessa’s personal correspondence with Vladimir Ilyich for a long time. And in the early 50s he burned it, afraid that it might become a reason for arrest.
All personal correspondence with Lenin was confiscated immediately after Inessa’s death. So all the secrets of their personal relationships, if there were any, are still kept in the archives of the NKVD. Only our grandmother’s memories of Vladimir Armand disappeared. They were stolen during the evacuation along with my diapers. It was from Vladimir that she gave birth to her fifth child - my father. She went to him, leaving the father of her previous four children - Alexander Armand, my grandfather's older brother. This is a famous family story.
- How does the family feel about the legend that Andrei Armand is Ilyich’s son?
“These are all fictional journalists,” answered Vladimir Andreevich. - I don’t know where the legend came from. For some reason, no one says that Inessa Armand created the magazine “Rabotnitsa”, that she is the first chairman of the executive committee of Moscow and the Moscow region. This is no longer interesting to anyone. My father was born in 1903, and Inessa met Lenin in 1909.
- But the leader and his girlfriend could have had their biography corrected. Maybe they met earlier, because Inessa wrote that she became acquainted with Lenin’s works in 1903, the year her youngest son was born...
Vladimir Andreevich just waved it off.
One day Volodya spoke at some meeting. Someone took a photo of him. He really was in the picture an exact copy leader,” Olga, Vladimir Andreevich’s wife, laughs.
Vladimir Ilyich and Inessa, figuratively speaking, stood next to the machine. He is an outstanding theorist. She is a very competent person in terms of culture, economics, jurisprudence and a talented organizer. “And nothing more,” Vladimir Andreevich ended the conversation.
And his face lit up with a smile with a characteristic slyness. Well, he looks just like Vladimir Ilyich!
According to local residents, the military cemetery was visited several times by people who called themselves “relatives of Andrei Armand.” They allegedly spoke French among themselves, and were accompanied by KGB officers. And in the early 90s, a whole delegation from Russia came here. Marijampole residents claim that the Russians begged local authorities allow them to open the grave to take samples of the remains of Captain Armand's guard for DNA analysis. But they were refused.
At the cemetery, I noticed that a separate monument was erected only to the guard captain Armand. The faded photograph on the stone is almost impossible to see. Only the outlines of an elongated male face with lush, most likely red, hair have been preserved. The location of the original photograph could not be determined.
Andrei Mironov (not an artist) - Lenin’s illegitimate son?
According to Melis Arypbekov, a Kyrgyz businessman who free time is engaged in researching the life of Ilyich, the leader took his pseudonym in honor of a certain woman named Lenin.
This is evidenced by documents that were given to Melis by none other than the grandson of the famous Russian artist Perov, Roman Alekseevich.
We talked a lot when I lived and worked in Leningrad,” says Arypbekov. — Studying history has always been my passion. Roman Alekseevich knew about this and gave me amazing documents!
Arypbekov takes out a powerful and dusty suitcase from the closet and takes out a tattered album with charcoal sketches. famous paintings Vasily Perov himself!
Compare! “Melis puts in front of us modern color reproductions of famous paintings. In the drawings there are indeed fragments of masterpieces, faces and even a hand with a modest signature: “My hand. Perov."
And here is a photo of Roman Perov, who gave me this treasure,” says Arypbekov and shows on the card a man who looks very much like Leo Tolstoy. - And next to him, do you know who? Andrei Mironov, son of Lenina, in whose honor Vladimir Ilyich took his pseudonym.
Arypbekov pauses:
And perhaps this is Ilyich’s son!
As evidence of this stunning theory, Melis takes out an ancient black and white photograph. We, parsing the thin letters, read on the back almost in order: “Deeply respected, dear and beloved Tatyana Alekseevna and Roman Alekseevich Perov in memory of my dear mother Inna Vasilievna Lenina, who took part in revolutionary work with V.I. Lenin and contributed to his salvation in early May 1900. A. Mironov.”
The same woman in the photo is also depicted on a tattered page from the pre-revolutionary magazine “Neva”, where under the heading “Artist and Stage” with all the yats and solid signs it is reported that “Inna Vasilievna Filippova-Lenina, opera singer, lyric soprano” will perform “in the role of Margarita from the opera “Faust”. It turns out that Inna Lenina’s son Andrei Mironov sent these photographs to his friend, Roman Perov. There are several more letters written in the same handwriting from Andrei to Roman.
Maybe Lenin really took his pseudonym in honor of her? Why then didn’t you tell about this charming lady leader earlier? — I ask Melis Arypbekov.
During the KGB era? - Melis answers the question with a question. “Besides, Perov actually told me that Andrei is the secret son of Vladimir Ilyich and Inna Lenina. Well, do you think this information would have been accepted in Soviet times?
According to Arypbekov, Volodya Ulyanov and Inna Lenina had a whirlwind romance in St. Petersburg, they were even planning to get married. But the parents of the young lady did not want to marry their daughter to a man whose brother was hanged for an attempt on the life of the Tsar. Ulyanov had to break up with the girl, and only then did she find out that she was pregnant. And she married someone else - completely uninteresting to him. Soviet history character - a certain Mironov. Even his name has not survived to this day.
Fanny Kaplan90 years ago in Moscow, at the Mikhelson plant, an attempt was made on the life of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, whom the Socialist-Revolutionary Fanny Kaplan tried to shoot.
Until recently, several versions of the failed murder were considered. Now the Prosecutor General's Office has officially closed the case, insisting on the only version. During the investigation, astonishing details were revealed. family life terrorists.
A statement written by Fanny Kaplan, discovered in the KGB archives and kept there until 1934, was made public. In this statement, Kaplan talks about the reasons that prompted her to shoot the leader of the October Revolution. In this statement, Kaplan confirms that she planned and organized the attack on Lenin without the help of any political or other forces. The assassination attempt, which she calls a terrorist attack, was not related to politics.
Did Lenin have children?
Now - about the most important thing. Lenin never had and could never have had any natural or secondary children.
"Savory" diagnoses
The most compelling arguments to substantiate the version that Lenin never had and could not have had either natural or secondary children were presented by famous foreign and domestic doctors: German doctors A. Strumpel, O. Bumke, Soviet doctors P. Osipov , Yu. Lopukhin and others. They made public the facts that even in his youth, Vladimir Ulyanov suffered from serious illnesses. His wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, was also ill; she suffered from Graves’ disease.They were both infertile. But the most intriguing diagnosis that German neurologists gave Lenin and which long years carefully hidden in the USSR - this is syphilis of the blood vessels of the brain, complicated by gonorrheal infection. This version was put forward by the famous specialist in the history of medicine, Ponter Hesse. “Savory” diagnoses, in his opinion, were the direct cause of infertility in Chapter One Soviet government. It was these diseases, and not Kaplan’s enemy bullet and the paralysis that then developed, that carried the great leader to the grave so early, leaving behind no heirs other than ideological ones.
In 1998, Berlin resident Alexander Vladimirovich Steffen gave an interview to journalist Arnold Bespo. He said that he was the son of Lenin and, again, Inessa Armand.
According to Steffen, he was born in 1913, when Inessa Armand was already a widow. At the age of seven months he was given to the family of an Austrian communist. In the spring of 1920, Alexander was visited by his mother in Salzburg. She brought with her a letter addressed to Lenin, which she wrote in 1913 in Paris, and asked to keep it as a souvenir.
In 1928, some unknown people took Alexander to America. Subsequently, Steffen came to the conclusion that these strangers were sent by Stalin. Alexander received American citizenship, volunteered for the army in 1943, and served at the naval base in Portland until 1947.
In 1959, Steffen's wife died and he moved to the GDR, where he was willingly granted citizenship and nice apartment. Later, Steffen was invited to a reception with Secretary General The Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany to Walter Ulbricht, and he said that he knew about the origin of Alexander. And in 1967, he met in Berlin with Brezhnev, who presented him with the Order of Friendship of Peoples and kissed him deeply.
But how true is this “German” version? Firstly, there is no record of the birth of Inessa Armand's child at the specified time. Secondly, no one around her mentions the baby. Finally, in 1920, Armand was in Moscow and did not leave anywhere. And Brezhnev’s visit to the GDR took place not in 1967, but in 1971.
In 1998, Berlin resident Alexander Vladimirovich Steffen gave an interview to journalist Arnold Bespo. He said that he was the son of Lenin and, again, Inessa Armand.
According to Steffen, he was born in 1913, when Inessa Armand was already a widow. At the age of seven months he was given to the family of an Austrian communist. In the spring of 1920, Alexander was visited by his mother in Salzburg. She brought with her a letter addressed to Lenin, which she wrote in 1913 in Paris, and asked to keep it as a souvenir.
In 1928, some unknown people took Alexander to America. Subsequently, Steffen came to the conclusion that these strangers were sent by Stalin. Alexander received American citizenship, volunteered for the army in 1943, and served at the naval base in Portland until 1947.
In 1959, Steffen's wife died and he moved to the GDR, where he was willingly given citizenship and a good apartment. Later, Steffen was invited to a reception with the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Walter Ulbricht, and he said that he knew about Alexander’s origins. And in 1967, he met in Berlin with Brezhnev, who presented him with the Order of Friendship of Peoples and kissed him deeply.
But how true is this “German” version? Firstly, there is no record of the birth of Inessa Armand's child at the specified time. Secondly, no one around her mentions the baby. Finally, in 1920, Armand was in Moscow and did not leave anywhere. And Brezhnev’s visit to the GDR took place not in 1967, but in 1971.
Who is to blame for childlessness itself? famous couple Soviet Russia- Vladimir Lenin or his wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya?
From Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, during her lifetime and probably against her wishes, they made a Soviet icon, when “not a minute for personal happiness - everything is for the Fatherland!” But in her declining years, the “honorary widow” shunned all hype and admitted in her letters to cherished dream, which was never given the chance to come true: just to babysit the grandchildren. Why did this woman, who seemingly had everything, not have the most precious thing - neither grandchildren, nor even children?
There are different versions put forward, each of them is supported by the evidence of contemporaries.
Krupskaya's ill health
Revolutionary activities spouses Ilyich, apparently, did not leave her the slightest chance for motherhood. Nadenka began to get involved in politics in her youth. There was always a “leftist” spirit in their family.
Nadya's poor noble family became even poorer after the death of her father. By that time, the girl had graduated from high school and managed to study for a year at the Higher Women's Courses. To make ends meet, Nadezhda began giving private lessons while working at an evening school.
Since childhood, Nadenka has been distinguished by fragile health, which was further undermined by the need to run all over St. Petersburg, in any weather, among students. Also in early years Krupskaya was diagnosed with Graves' disease, also known as diffuse toxic goiter. It's autoimmune hereditary disease, which affects women 8 times more often than men. Nadya constantly suffered from weakness and lethargy. Her condition worsened due to frequent colds.
In the fall of 1897, Krupskaya was arrested and had to spend six months in a prison cell for “politicals.” There she caught a bad cold, the disease took away the rest women's health. Her condition was described as “serious”; Nadezhda’s mother wrote a petition addressed to the prison authorities with a request to have mercy on her sick daughter.
Later, Krupskaya followed her husband to Siberia. Her letters to her mother radiate cheerfulness, but in reality Krupskaya spent no time in Siberia. better times. The cold climate and poor living conditions did not do her any good. The disease progresses, under its influence Nadezhda Konstantinovna’s appearance irreversibly changes, but in her youth she was a real beauty...
When this opportunity arose, Lenin sent Krupskaya for treatment to Switzerland and Austria, but the doctors did not achieve any particular success. She was never able to feel the joy of motherhood, although she strived for it with all her soul. Prison, exile, and a difficult youth led to an exacerbation of Graves' disease, which crippled the wife of the leader of the world proletariat all her life.
Lenin's illnesses
Ilyich was also in rather poor health. Even as a child, he was seriously ill with measles and malaria - under the floor of the house in Simbirsk, where their family lived, there were malaria mosquitoes. One time Ulyanovs seriously thought about moving to Italy, or at least to Crimea, to improve their son’s health, but they did not have the funds for this.
A more scandalous version claims that Lenin contracted syphilis in his youth. This is exactly the diagnosis that the German doctor gave him. Adolf von Strumpel- “syphilitic inflammation of blood vessels.” At that time, syphilis was rampant in Russia and throughout Europe, so catching a “fashionable” disease young man it was easy enough. Most likely, if Lenin was treated for syphilis, the treatment either turned out to be ineffective or was not completed, which led to infertility.
The attitude of the Lenin-Krupskaya couple towards children
Only God knows how the spouses suffered from the inability to have children. According to the testimony of many of Ilyich’s associates, both Lenin himself and Nadezhda Konstantinovna always happily communicated with the children of friends, coming to the house where there were children, playing with them, joking, and bringing gifts.
Wife Grigory Zinoviev, for example, wrote in her memoirs how Lenin wore it for hours little son on his shoulders, crawling along the floor with the child, playing different games.
The former beauty became a workaholic
Krupskaya became more and more withdrawn with age, her feelings could not be read on her face. Nadezhda Konstantinovna, fully realizing that she was barren, threw herself headlong into party work - and what else could she do? She was invariably by her husband's side in all life's troubles - both in exile and in emigration.
According to official data, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and his wife Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya never had children. However, the leader of the proletariat is credited with several illegitimate offspring.
Andrey Armand
Many sources testify to Lenin’s affair with the revolutionary Inessa Armand. There is a hypothesis that Inessa’s youngest son from her second husband Vladimir Armand Andrei was actually Lenin’s son and he knew about it. In honor of the grandfather of the youngest son Andrei Armand and his wife Khiena they even named Volodya. As a child, the boy looked very much like Volodya Ulyanov from a school photo.
It is known about Andrei Armand that until 1935 he worked as a mechanical engineer at the Gorky Automobile Plant, then moved to Moscow, and at the beginning of the war he volunteered for the front. In 1944, Andrei Armand, with the rank of captain, was seriously wounded near Vilkaviskis, died in hospital and was buried in a memorial cemetery in the Lithuanian city of Marijampole.
In fact, Andrei Armand could not possibly be Lenin’s son: he was born in 1903, and Lenin and Inessa Armand met only in 1909. At least, the descendants of the Armands completely deny kinship with the leader.
Alexander Steffen
In 1998, Berlin resident Alexander Vladimirovich Steffen gave an interview to journalist Arnold Bespo. He said that he was the son of Lenin and, again, Inessa Armand.
According to Steffen, he was born in 1913, when Inessa Armand was already a widow. At the age of seven months he was given to the family of an Austrian communist. In the spring of 1920, Alexander was visited by his mother in Salzburg. She brought with her a letter addressed to Lenin, which she wrote in 1913 in Paris, and asked to keep it as a souvenir.
In 1928, some unknown people took Alexander to America. Subsequently, Steffen came to the conclusion that these strangers were sent by Stalin. Alexander received American citizenship, volunteered for the army in 1943, and served at the naval base in Portland until 1947.
In 1959, Steffen's wife died and he moved to the GDR, where he was willingly given citizenship and a good apartment. Later, Steffen was invited to a reception with the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Walter Ulbricht, and he said that he knew about Alexander’s origins. And in 1967, he met in Berlin with Brezhnev, who presented him with the Order of Friendship of Peoples and kissed him deeply.
But how true is this “German” version? Firstly, there is no record of the birth of Inessa Armand's child at the specified time. Secondly, no one around her mentions the baby. Finally, in 1920, Armand was in Moscow and did not leave anywhere. And Brezhnev’s visit to the GDR took place not in 1967, but in 1971.
Andrey Mironov
Everyone knows the actor Andrei Mironov well, but about another Andrei Mironov - allegedly illegitimate son Few people have probably heard of V.I. Lenin.
This version was put forward by Kyrgyz businessman Melis Arypbekov, who studies the biography of the leader in his spare time. He claims that Ilyich took his pseudonym in honor of a certain Inna Lenina. This story is allegedly set out in documents given to Arypbekov in Leningrad by the grandson of the famous Russian artist Perov, Roman Alekseevich.
If you believe the evidence, Inna Filippova-Lenina was opera singer. In her youth, she had a whirlwind romance in St. Petersburg with Vladimir Ulyanov. They were even going to get married, but the girl’s parents did not want her to marry the brother of the terrorist who attempted to assassinate the Tsar. The lovers separated, but Inna was already pregnant. Soon she married someone else - a man named Mironov. However, neither Perov’s grandson nor Arypbekov claimed that Andrei Mironov is precisely Lenin’s son - this is just an assumption.
Fanny Kaplan
The most incredible version is that Fanny Kaplan was the daughter of a leader. Allegedly, the KGB archives until 1934 contained a statement made by the Socialist-Revolutionary after her arrest. In it, Kaplan reported that the attempt she made on Lenin at the Mikhelson plant did not pursue political goals, but only personal ones. They say that once the revolutionary Ulyanov raped Fanny’s mother in a safe house, and from this violence a daughter was born, who grew up and decided to take revenge.
No children!
A number of foreign and domestic doctors believe that Lenin could not have had children at all. The leader allegedly suffered from syphilis in his youth, and his wife suffered from endocrine disorders, which led to infertility. Although this is also just a version.
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